Here's the first of a double heads-up from the excellent, Cherub Dream Records. San Francisco’s Hana Freed, aka Tricky FM, creates an intriguing amalgam of sound on her latest release, 'Apartment', where glossy electronica gets a decidedly raw edge. Soft vocals and warmer tones are surrounded by a wonderfully abstract fringe of noise and dis-harmony, giving the track an unsettled quality beneath its sheen.
The lyrics are a hazy cocktail of attraction, memory and desire: wet hair, dry lips, smoke in the hair, perfume and the repeated realisation that, yes, “no wonder your boyfriend was jealous”. It’s intimate without becoming overly precious, and intriguingly abstract in its construction - providing a hint rather than an explanation.
Freed self-produces everything, and her background playing clubs, venues and punk bars across the Bay Area seems to have left its mark: this may be electronica, but there’s plenty of grit lurking under the glitter. 'Apartment' opens the door to 'Twin Star Fantasy', her forthcoming album.